Connector

ABSTRACT

A connector for coupling a component to external circuitry, comprising a base, a guide for guiding the component along an axis towards the base, a first barb positioned to latch an edge of the component at a first distance along the axis from the base, and a second barb positioned to latch an edge of the component at a second distance along the axis from the base.

This invention relates to a connector for connecting an electricalcomponent such as a digital camera module to external circuitry.

BACKGROUND

Digital camera modules have been developed as components for use inelectronic apparatus such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) andmobile telephones.

FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate such a digital camera module 100. FIG. 1 is aperspective top view of the module, FIG. 2 is a front side view of themodule, FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the module, and FIG. 4 is a bottomplan view of the module. The module 100 comprises a substrate 110 and alens structure 130.

The substrate 110 may be a rectangular-shaped ceramic substratecomprising electronic circuitry including an image sensor 116 on a topsurface, and metallic terminals 114 on a bottom surface 112 forelectrically coupling the module 100 to external circuitry.

The lens structure 130 comprises a rectangular-shaped base portion 135,and a turret portion 150 extending from the base portion 135. The baseportion 135 and the turret portion 150 may both be formed of a plasticsmaterial. The turret portion 150 defines an aperture 160 through whichlight is received into the camera module for detection by the imagesensor 116. A lens 170 is positioned within the aperture 160 forfocusing received light onto the image sensor 116.

A drawback with known digital camera modules is that they are difficultto connect to printed wiring boards (PWBs). Reflow soldering of theceramic substrate terminals 114 to a PWB is problematic as the plasticsused in the lens 170 melt at temperatures less than the reflowtemperatures. Reflow soldering may be possible if the lens is made froma glass material. However, glass lenses are expensive and are lesssuitable for mass production techniques.

One method for connecting a digital camera module to a PWB involvesusing a flexible intermediate substrate. The flexible substrate is gluedat one end to the bottom surface 112 of the ceramic substrate 110 withlocally-conductive adhesive such that the substrate terminals 114electrically couple to electrical traces in the flexible substrate. Theother end of the flexible substrate is then connected to the PWB via aFPC connector. This method is labor intensive and does not lend itselfto automated assembly easily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a connector forcoupling a component to external circuitry, comprising a base, a guidefor guiding the component along an axis towards the base, a first barbpositioned to latch an edge of the component at a first distance alongthe axis from the base, and a second barb positioned to latch an edge ofthe component at a second distance along the axis from the base.

A connector in accordance with the invention has the advantage that itis able to receive components along one axis which in turn enablessimple assembly of the component to the connector. A connector inaccordance with the invention also has the advantage that it is able toreceive components that have housings of different height due to the twobarb arrangement. In other words, the two barb arrangement enables acomponent to be retained by an edge of the component even when theheight of that edge varies.

The component is preferably a digital camera module.

Suitably, the base includes electrical interconnects for coupling to thecomponent/digital camera module.

Preferably, the guide comprises side walls extending from a planar base.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail, byway of example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of a camera module;

FIG. 2 is a front side view of the module;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the module;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the module;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a connector in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are side views of the connector and the module;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the connector illustrating theposition of retaining barbs;

FIG. 9 is side view of two barbs;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are schematic side views of the two barbs operatingagainst a camera module; and

FIGS. 12 to 17 are schematic side views of the four barbs of FIG. 8operating against a camera module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a connector 200 in accordance with theinvention. The connector is made of a plastics material and is shapedgenerally like box having an open top. The connector 200 is furtherillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, which show a side view and an end viewrespectively.

The connector 200 comprises a generally planar base portion 220 and fourside walls 210 extending perpendicular to the base to form the open boxshape.

As shown in FIG. 6, the connector 200 is designed to receive the cameramodule 100 of FIG. 1 along the Z-axis. Eight electrical interconnects230 made of metal such as copper are embedded into the base 220 suchthat each interconnect has a internal portion extending to the inside ofthe box, and a external portion extending to the outside of the box. Theinternal portions are designed to couple to the terminals 114 of thecamera module once it has been fully inserted into the connector 200.The external portions are designed to be soldered to traces of a PWB(not shown) in order to provide electrical connections to externalcomponents. The connector 200 is preferably reflow soldered to the PWBbefore the camera module 100 is received into the connector. Other typesof connection between the external portions and the PWB may also beused, such as pin and socket type connections.

In an alternative embodiment, the internal portions of the interconnectsmay extend up the side walls 210 to couple with correspondinglypositioned terminals on the camera module.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the external dimensions x1 and y1 of therectangular-shaped base portion 135 of the camera module 100 areslightly smaller than the internal dimensions x2 and y2 of the connectorbox opening defined by the side walls 210. The side walls 210 thus actas guides to guide the camera module 100 into the connector along theZ-axis.

It is important that the camera is held in the connector so that theterminals 114 remain coupled to the interconnects 230. FIG. 8 illustratethe barbs that form part of the connector 200 to achieve this function.The barbs need not be exactly the pointed shape illustrated in theFigures so long as they function to hold the camera module at thedesired position. Accordingly, the term barb is intended to encompassesmore rounded shapes than those illustrated.

FIGS. 8 and 12 to 17 illustrate an embodiment of the connector with fourbarbs 241, 242, 243, 244. An alternative embodiment of the connectorwith just two barbs is illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 11. The barbs aresupported by arms 251-254 that extend from the base 220 of theconnector. The arms are coupled to the base 220 such that they can moveindependently of each other. Recesses 270 in the side walls 210 allowthe arms and barbs to spring back as the camera module is received intothe connector 200.

In FIG. 8, the two lower barbs 243, 244 of the of four barbs arepositioned at a distance H1 from the base 220, while the two upper barbs241, 242 are positioned at a distance H2 from the base 220.

The height of the camera module H3 (see FIG. 2) is known to have a largetolerance due to variations in the alignment of the lens structure 130to the substrate 110. The use of barbs at different heights enables theconnector 200 to receive and retain camera modules that vary greatly inheight. Preferably the upper barb is positioned at a height H2 that isnear the maximum tolerance for H3 while the lower barb is positioned ata height H1 that is near the minimum tolerance for H3.

FIG. 11 illustrates how the connector 200 according to the invention canretain a camera module 100 that has a large height H3 by means of theupper barb 261. The lower barb 262 is simply deflected out of the way.FIG. 10 in contrast illustrates how the connector 200 according to theinvention can retain a camera module that has a smaller height H3 bymeans of the lower barb 262.

FIGS. 12 to 15 illustrate the sequence of deflections of the four barbs241-244 (originally shown in FIG. 8) as a camera module 100 with a smallheight is received by the connector 200 along the vertical z-axis. FIGS.16 and 17 illustrate a similar sequence for a camera module 100 with alarger height. FIGS. 15 and 17 illustrate the camera module 100 fullyinserted and retained in the connector 200.

In accordance with the invention, further barbs may be added at heightsother than H1 and H2 to accommodate further variations in the height H3of the camera module, or to engage different edges of the camera module.

Other components that may be retained by the connector include, forexample, lamps, laser diodes etc.

1. A connector for coupling a component to external circuitry,comprising a base, a guide for guiding the component along an axistowards the base, a first barb positioned to latch an edge of thecomponent at a first distance along the axis from the base, and a secondbarb positioned to latch an edge of the component at a second distancealong the axis from the base.
 2. A connector as claimed in claim 1,wherein the component is a digital camera module.
 3. A connector asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the base includes electrical interconnectsfor coupling to the component.
 4. A connector as claimed in claim 1,wherein the guide comprises side walls extending from the base.
 5. Aconnector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base is generally planar.